>> it's got to be obama. but in the end, you know, the most important word in all that you just read is "grease," really. i mean, you know, last week here, i made a heartfelt plea in favor of earmarks. and i think that that's how you get big deals done. you know, there are going to be politicians who are going to have to be bought the way abraham lincoln bought politicians with jobs when he got the 13th amendment passed. you know, and certainly for a long-term deal. having said that, let me also say, i'm not so sure we're going to get a long-term deal here. we may just go off the cliff and vote for some tax reductions right after january 1st. no one knows. >> joe, you're going to like this. i threw the lincoln analogy at a close aide to the president last week, and he said, you know, with this republican -- with the way politics of washington are today, there would still be slavery. that lincoln wouldn't have been able to navigate the polarization between the media, between -- it was an interesting and depres